Mark Salvaggio on a tour of the Mountain Communities back in February 2013 as constituent services advisor for Supervisor Couch. This week Kern County DA Lisa Green elected not to press spousal battery charges against Salvaggio. [photo by Patric Hedlund]

By Patric Hedlund

Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green released a statement this week about a decision not to bring charges of spousal battery against the constituent services director for Kern County Supervisor David Couch.

Mark Salvaggio, a former Bakersfield City Councilmember, is part of Supervisor Couch’s staff that serves the Mountain Communities in District 4.

It was reported on June 6 that Salvaggio had been arrested on a misdemeanor charge following an incident of domestic violence. This is the text of this week’s letter released by the D.A.’s office:“On June 5, 2013, officers of the Bakersfield Police Department were summoned to the home of Mark Salvaggio regarding a domestic dispute between he and his wife.

“After completing their investigation, the Bakersfield Police Department submitted the case to the District Attorney’s Office, requesting Mr. Salvaggio be charged with a violation of Penal Code section 243(e)(l), misdemeanor spousal battery.

“The victim has since revised her original statement. Without further independent evidence corroborating the victim’s original statement to the responding officers, we are unable to proceed. Therefore, the District Attorney’s Office will not be filing criminal charges against Mr. Salvaggio.”

Salvaggio was contacted at Supervisor Couch’s office. He was asked if he wished to make a statement. He said he had “been through a rough time” and that “David doesn’t really want me to comment.”

This is part of the August 9, 2013 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.